Many locations opened to the public are now equipped with computers and so-called interactive terminals which are dedicated to provide instant-on access to information and services, particularly electronic services through the Internet network. Generally speaking, when such services are not separately billed by e-service providers and the manufacturers of Information Technology, they are financed through an advertisement policy based on the display of advertisement windows and panels which are simultaneously displayed to the customer as the customer is using the computer or the interactive terminal.
Clearly, in such a situation, the service provider or the product manufacture has a strong interest in keeping control of what is currently displayed to a customer, particularly as the customer is using the system. As the computer or the Interactive Terminal can be installed with a wide number of software and operating systems, the service provider or the product manufacturer normally has very little control of what is currently displayed on the user's computer, since the computer of the interactive terminal can always be the subject of new software installations or configuration changes. In particular, the service providers or product manufacturers have no certainty about what is actually displayed to the customer as the customer is using the system. The same concern is shared by Corporations which may wish to keep the possibility of having a direct access to inform their employees, regardless of the particular computer or Operating System the employees use.
More generally, the security concerns which are shared by any user of an Information Technology system and the risk of exposure of sensitive data to malevolent intrusions, particularly in view of the high number of suspicious software which is likely to be installed—most often out of the awareness of the customer—clearly shows the importance of securing a particular area of the display for a specific ‘trusted’ use, out of control of the particular Operating System being employed, and the particular set of software being installed.